November is an awesome month here at Lake Fork for catching trophy bass! As the water cools off and the bass begin their annual feeding frenzy there is a huge window of opportunity for many anglers to catch numbers of quality fish, not to mention the bass of a lifetime. The fish are gorging themselves on everything that crosses their path both in shallow and deep water. This leaves them vulnerable to the fisherman who fore go the duck blind and deer stand in pursuit of these big bass.
The water conditions at Lake Fork have been the biggest factor for some time here lately. With every week bringing some degree of precipitation over the past month, the lake conditions have been less than ideal. The continuous inflow of water has kept a lot of areas on the lake stained and the gates open at the dam periodically. If you are familiar with these conditions then you know that catching fish on Lake Fork in stained or fluctuating water levels can be a challenge. Do not let this deter you from your favorite fall honey hole though. The fish are still going to continue their annual activity regardless of the water conditions. Here are a few patterns that will hopefully help you catch the fish of your dreams right now!
The deep bite is really turning on as well. These big ole bass will be found feeding on big schools of shad and bar fish this time of year. I have been running the new Lowrance HDS8 over points, humps, road beds, and pond dams in 18-32 feet of water to locate these schools of fish. There are also a number of fish to be found in flats at the mouth of the major creeks in 28-32 feet. Once I have located a school of fish I have been targeting them with Carolina rigged soft plastics, jigging spoons, drop shots, or heavy swim baits. On the Carolina rig, I like to use a heavy 1 oz. weight and 4-5 foot leader with a 3/0 wide gap hook tied to 20 lb. main line and a 17lb. Trilene 100% fluoro leader. Best baits have been a 5" Berkley Wacky Crawler, 4" Power Hawg, Centipede or French fry in watermelon red, green pumpkin, or chart pepper. The jigging spoon is deadly this time of year on deep fish and is a great thing to have tied on if you are bringing the family out to catch some fish. I use a Talon Big Dandy in the Lake Fork Maniac color or "t-spoon" in the 3/8-1/2 oz size. www.talonlures.com Drop these spoons down to the bottom in an area that is holding fish and pick the rod tip up and let it back down. It is some easy fishing and great for the family. Most all bites will come on the fall and you can catch many different species of fish with them including a real big bass! The 5" swim baits like the Storm Wild Eye Shad is a good choice for catching big bass out deep as well as a drop shot rig when the fish are finicky.
I hope this helps all you anglers that are headed to Lake Fork this month in pursuit of a trophy bass! If you would like to book a guided trip on Lake Fork, feel free to contact me at (903)736-9888 or email me at lakeforktrophybass@yahoo.com . I just picked up my new 2010 Ranger Z521 Comanche www.rangerboats.com paired with a Mercury Optimax 250 Pro XS www.mercurymarine.com . This new ride is an amazing machine! If you have not checked one of these boats out yet, you can go by and see one at Diamond Sports Marine www.diamondsportsmarine.com on Hwy 154 while you are in the area. Test rides are available upon request. Just give Ben Hogan a call at (903)383-7829 and he'll be glad to help you find the Ranger boat that is right for you! Big thanks to all my sponsors and to the Lord for His provisions.